The most valuable thing that premium cable channels bring to the TV landscape is the ability of their original programming to tackle hot-button issues, such as organized crime, drugs and homosexuality. Subscribers to HBO and Showtime know what they’re getting, which is generally fare that’s too edgy for the American viewership at large.

In the past, HBO has had the advantage in quality programming. But now, Showtime is taking on the boogeyman in America today: terrorism.

Its new chilling drama, “Sleeper Cell,” takes viewers inside a small group of Los Angeles-based terrorists. Its most frightening aspect is how the average man on the street could be a terrorist.

The series opens with a young black Muslim, Darwyn Al-Hakim (played by Michael Ealy), getting out of prison. Darwyn has a secret: he’s a deep-cover agent for the FBI.

A contact inside arranges for Darwyn to meet with Faris Al-Farik (Oded Fehr), the cell leader who is posing as a Jew.

After he proves himself by performing some basic assignments, Darwyn meets the other members of the cell: an Egyptian-America, a Bosnian, a Frenchman and even a blond Californian. All have military experience; most are working menial jobs. The point that “Sleeper Cell” makes so eloquently is that terrorism doesn’t have only one skin color.

Darwyn declares early on that “These guys have nothing to do with my faith.” But he soon finds out that his assignment will be much more complicated than he had ever envisioned.

Showtime has programmed “Sleeper Cell” like a miniseries. Each episode is immediately re-aired at 11 p.m., with two parts again aired 8-10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, then that week’s four episodes shown again 8 p.m.-midnight on Saturday. This pattern continues next week, then the two-hour finale is set for 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18.

The channel’s chiefs know they have a winner, during a holiday season stuffed with reruns, and that viewers will want more sooner than another week.

Is it exploitive to use terrorism as a topic for a TV series? No, not as long as it’s a specter hanging over America, one that’s constantly reinforced by the nation’s leaders.

No, while “Sleeper Cell” is disconcerting, it’s also three-dimensional, looking deeper at the root causes of terrorism, instead of the cardboard villains used by most TV dramas. For that alone, it should be commended. But it goes further: it makes viewers think.